Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Golf Anyone?

In honor of the library’s
upcoming mini golf extravaganza and fund-raiser (http://www.greenwichlibrary.org),
we at the Oral History Project thought it timely to pay our respects to one of
our own town golfers, the prize-winning champion, Louise DeVivo Munro, who died
September 26, 2015, after having been a Greenwich resident for more than 50
years.

In February, 2002, Janet
Klion (Oral History Project volunteer) interviewed Ms. Munro, a lifetime member
of the Innis Arden Golf Club and winner of numerous golf awards, including 27
championships at Innis Arden in Old Greenwich.

In this highlight from the
interview Janet Klion asks Ms. Munro about being named “the preeminent athlete
of their first hundred years” at Innis Arden. Ms. Munro goes on to describe the
event and to discuss her many awards: (Ms. Munro is identified as LM and Ms. Klion is JK.)

Louise DiVivo Munro with trophy

LM:November
6, 1999, at the Hyatt Regency was a momentous event. I think everyone, except
me, was aware that I would receive an award. It was such a well-kept secret.
The ballroom was beautifully decorated. The tables had floral arrangements and
candles and lanterns in the middle of the dance floor, and a wonderful band
played.

Our president, Jeff Harris, walked to the podium to
make his remarks and welcomed members and guests alike. Then he recognized past
presidents who contributed so much to the development of Innis Arden as we know
it today. There must have been six hundred people. He also highlighted the
celebratory activities which had taken place throughout the year.

Then the announcement came: “Tonight we will do
something that has never been done before in the history of Innis Arden and
might not be done again for another hundred years. Tonight we will recognize an
honorary person who is the preeminent athlete of Innis Arden’s first one
hundred years. We’ve enjoyed watching and competing against many outstanding
golfers, tennis players, swimmers; but one golfer’s accomplishments stand head
and shoulders above all the others. This person’s record is truly exceptional.”

I’m
sitting there listening, trying to figure out who in the world he was referring
to, since gender was never mentioned. I couldn’t think of anyone outstanding.
Because I didn’t know the answer to the riddle, I let my mind wander and
decided to concentrate on my date instead….

I
never suspected. Then he went on with the accolades: “This person has won fifty
individual championships, and this person was runner-up in the 1998
championship at Innis Arden and has just won the Legends’ Tournament of
Connecticut.” And all of a sudden it hit me: “Oh, my God, he’s talking about
me.” And I wanted to crawl under the table.

The
amazing thing was, when he finished enumerating all my wins, he announced,
“Ladies and Gentlemen, Innis Arden’s Preeminent Athlete of the Century, Mrs.
America, Louise De Vivo Munro!!” And the applause was thunderous applause, so
spontaneous and everybody jumped to their feet. I couldn’t believe it. It was
just… It was just so amazing….

It
seems unreal that I should be cited for playing a game I love, and the wins
just happened to come along. I consider myself an ordinary gal. For the Board
of Governors to award me this most highest honor of my life was, on their part,
most generous and kind and thoughtful.

JK:Now how
many times had you won the championship there?

LM:Well,
let me tell you. My first championship, 1950. Then I won ’56, ’57, ’59, ’60;
and through ’62 through ’76 I won fifteen straight.

JK:Wow.

LM:And
then I won in ’78, ’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’94, ’95. For a total of twenty-seven
championships.

But before Ms. Munro became
a champion, she was a student of the game, taught by a teacher she adored. Here
she describes meeting and then working with her coach and mentor, Terry
Conners:

Louise Munro with coach, Terry Conners, 1953

LM:I would
ride my bike and often detour to the golf house to watch the pro give a golf
lesson. His name was Terry Conners. The ice skating rink in Stamford is named
after him. When I watched him I always kept a respectable distance. One day he
motioned to me to come over and said, “You seem to be interested in what I am
doing. Do you like to play golf?” I answered I didn’t know. Don’t forget I was
just a kid. Then he gave me a golf club and told me to swing it. Don’t know
what he learned from that but then he remarked, “If you want to learn this game
I will teach you but you have to be serious, on time. And no girlfriends or
boyfriends hanging around.” I showed up the next day and for the next month I
did nothing but swing a club without hitting a golf ball until I had it right.
And my poor hand blistered all the time. It was amazing.

JK:But it
didn’t discourage you that he was…that you didn’t get to hit anything.

LM:No, it
didn’t. And I guess because of the, you know, the father figure, senior
citizen, what have you, I just obeyed. Whatever he told me to do, I did and I
showed up on time. There must have been some interest there for me to continue.
Either that or I was afraid to say no.

Often
times at the end of the day Terry would ask me to gather the flagsticks from
the farthest holes while he walked for the others. I would get on my bicycle
and ride out lickety-split onto the green and pull the stick out of the cup and
continue to the next stop. Not to worry, the greens were not as they are today.

The
man was so talented. He was a self-taught golfer; a speed ice skating champion;
a boxer. And he molded my swing to look like the great Sammy Snead. I must say
he did a good job with me.

JK:Is he
alive now?

LM:No. He
died some thirty years ago.

JK:He must
have been very proud of your success then.

LM:Yes,
yes.

JK:How
long did you take lessons from Mr. Conners?

LM:I took
lessons with him until his health failed.

Terry
Conners was unique in his teaching. He was very much a “hands-on” pro.
Something I benefited from and still miss. For instance, in my formative
years—and I was about twelve years old when I started – he would do things like
pretend my hand was a golf shaft, wrap his hand over mine and tighten his
fingers to communicate amount of pressure I should exert on the grip. Or have
me take my stance as though I were addressing the ball, then get behind me and
put his arms over mine, his hands over mine and then initiate the backswing.
When his left knee kicked in, it would trigger mine; the shifting of the weight
would nudge my hip and then he would take our arms to the top of the swing.
Then reverse the action through the ball. Sometimes I would stand behind him
with my hands on his hips to feel the amount of transfer. This physical contact
definitely helped me understand the “feel.”

In addition to her life as a
renowned golfer, Louise DeVivo Munro was a dedicated member of the Greenwich
community, a volunteer of many years at Greenwich Hospital and an active member
in her church where she served as Eucharistic minister. One of her most
cherished memories, shared is her interview, is of her trip to the Vatican in
1997 where she encountered Pope John Paul II:

LM:…the
carabinieri escorted us from one room to the other, then into a tiny elevator;
and they brought us to this wonderful hall where the Pope meets dignitaries. We
went through the hall into the Pope’s chapel. Only about twenty-eight of us
there, I would guess. And there was the Pope kneeling in front of me, you know,
with his back toward me and I... It didn’t register with me who this figure was
until he turned his head sideways, and I saw the little white sideburns and his
skullcap; and I said, “Oh, my God, this is the Pope.” And it was the most
thrilling experience. I had tears in my eyes. It was just… It was just
overwhelming. You realize the number of people who don’t have an opportunity to
see the Pope. Even the nuns, you know. Even the religious. And they’re more
worthy of it than I. It was just fantastic. I have four pictures on the wall.

Louise DiVivo Munro, born in
Venice, Italy in 1925, never lost her humility or her gratitude, in spite of
her many talents and accomplishments. We in Greenwich are the richer for having
had us among us.

The
interview, Golf in Greenwich,
February 14, 2002, conducted by Oral History Project volunteer, Janet Klion,
and narrated by Louise DiVivo Munro, can be read in the reference area of the
Greenwich Library, first floor, or through the Oral History Project Office, on
the library’s lower level.